Wednesday, March 29
Muncie, IN
1 p.m.
Ball State University
16-13, 6-2
5
vs
1
Northern Illinois
14-14, 5-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Northern Illinois
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
5
0
Ball State
5
0
0
0
0
0
X
5
6
0
Photo by: Samantha Blankenship (Ball State Creative Services)
Softball Secure Series Win Over Huskies
March 29, 2023 | Softball
MUNCIE, Ind. – Fueled by a pair of home runs from both redshirt sophomore catcher McKayla Timmons and redshirt freshman second baseman McKenna Mulholland, the Ball State softball team secured the series victory over league rival Northern Illinois with a 5-1 win Wednesday.
On a blustery afternoon at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, the Cardinals (16-13, 6-2 Mid-American Conference) and Huskies (14-14, 5-3 MAC) battled it out for one of the top spots in the league standings.
Northern Illinois jumped in front with a solo home run by Caitlyn Shumaker on the second pitch of the afternoon.However, Ball State answered immediately in the bottom of the inning, starting with a single from senior Amaia Daniel. Her single in the first increased her on base streak to 15 games.
Following Daniel, Timmons launched a two-run home run to left center field to give the Cardinals the lead 2-1. The Cardinals did not stop there as Mulholland added a three-run homer to right center later in the inning to extend the lead 5-1.
Timmons had just as good of a day defensively accounting for four assists in the first two innings. Timmons caught two Huskies trying to steal second and picked off another two throwing behind them at first. She added another highlight play diving in foul territory behind the plate to secure an out in the sixth.
Sophomore Angelina Russo, who built on her stellar outing from yesterday, posted another complete game performance. This was Russo's 15th appearance of the year and she improved to 6-4 on the season. She limited NIU to just five hits, one walk, and surrendered just one run. She struck out four batters.
HIGHLIGHTS
The Cardinals will be back in action this weekend at Ohio with the first game of the doubleheader Saturday, April 1, starting at 1 p.m. at the Ohio University Softball Complex.
On a blustery afternoon at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex, the Cardinals (16-13, 6-2 Mid-American Conference) and Huskies (14-14, 5-3 MAC) battled it out for one of the top spots in the league standings.
Northern Illinois jumped in front with a solo home run by Caitlyn Shumaker on the second pitch of the afternoon.However, Ball State answered immediately in the bottom of the inning, starting with a single from senior Amaia Daniel. Her single in the first increased her on base streak to 15 games.
Following Daniel, Timmons launched a two-run home run to left center field to give the Cardinals the lead 2-1. The Cardinals did not stop there as Mulholland added a three-run homer to right center later in the inning to extend the lead 5-1.
Timmons had just as good of a day defensively accounting for four assists in the first two innings. Timmons caught two Huskies trying to steal second and picked off another two throwing behind them at first. She added another highlight play diving in foul territory behind the plate to secure an out in the sixth.
Sophomore Angelina Russo, who built on her stellar outing from yesterday, posted another complete game performance. This was Russo's 15th appearance of the year and she improved to 6-4 on the season. She limited NIU to just five hits, one walk, and surrendered just one run. She struck out four batters.
HIGHLIGHTS
- All six of Timmons' home runs this season have been two-run shots, with three of the five coming with two outs
- Daniel reached for the 15th straight game after her single in the first
- Russo has only surrendered one earned run in her last 16 innings pitched
- Mulholland went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double to finish the series versus NIU batting .333
- T1 | Caitlyn Shumaker jumped on the second pitch of the game hitting a solo home run to right field to take the early lead (1-0)
- B1 | Timmons reclaimed the lead for the Cardinals, launching a no doubter over the fence in left center to score Daniel (2-1)
- B1 | Mulholland extends the lead hitting a three-run home run to right center field scoring senior Jazmyne Armendariz and junior Kaitlyn Mathews (5-1)
The Cardinals will be back in action this weekend at Ohio with the first game of the doubleheader Saturday, April 1, starting at 1 p.m. at the Ohio University Softball Complex.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Russo, Angelina (6-4)
L: STEWART, Danielle (6-6)
Batting:
2B: CONNER, Kiley 1
HR: SHUMAKER, Caitlyn 1
RBI: SHUMAKER, Caitlyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SHUMAKER, Caitlyn 1
CS: CONNER, Kiley 1 ; CRUTHERS, Cara 1
PO: RODRIGUEZ, Ally 1 ; JAMES, Courtney 1
Batting:
2B: Mathews, Kaitlyn 1 ; Mulholland, McKenna 1
HR: Timmons, McKayla 1 ; Mulholland, McKenna 1
RBI: Timmons, McKayla 2 ; Mulholland, McKenna 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Daniel, Amaia 1 ; Timmons, McKayla 1 ; Armendariz, Jazmyne 1 ; Mathews, Kaitlyn 1 ; Mulholland, McKenna 1
SB: Spencer, Grace 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/Uti
/ Softball
Uti
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballSoftball // Workouts
Wednesday, September 17
Ball State Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses the NCAA vs. House Settlement
Tuesday, July 01
Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses NCAA vs. House Settlement & Bill Richards Thank You
Friday, June 27
Sports Link: Katie Van Der Mark (Softball)
Wednesday, May 21